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NEW BBC RADIO 2 COMMISSIONS FOR 2006 [December 2005]Smooth Operations has enjoyed another string of successful commissions from BBC Radio 2 in the last bidding round. Among the programmes we will be producing for Radio 2 for 2006 (additional to our regular output) are series on the following subjects: Howlin' Wolf (2-part series) - A restrospective of one of
the most influential bluesmen that ever lived. For more information on programmes currently in production please visit our In Production pages. ONE NIGHT ON TWO [November 16th 2005, 88-91Fm BBC Radio 2]On November 16th 2005 a remarkable five hours of broadcasting began in a basement studio of the CBS building on West 57th Street, New York, where Nick Barraclough presented the highlights of his previous night's coverage of the 39th Country Music Association Awards at Madison Square Garden. Among the artists performing live on the show were Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Bon Jovi, Lee Ann Womack, Big & Rich and Keith Urban plus a performance by Garth Brooks, which literally stopped traffic on Broadway when he performed his latest release from a specially-constructed stage in Times Square. At 8:00pm Nick handed over to Mike Harding, broadcasting from Smooth Operations' northern studio in West Yorkshire, where he presented a live session with American folk/bluegrass band Nickel Creek. An hour later Mike Harding passed the baton to Mark Radcliffe, backstage at Alexandra Palace where the UK Music Hall Of Fame inductions were taking place. During the 3-hour broadcast Mark's guests included Dave Gilmore and Dave Mason of Pink Floyd, The Kinks in their original line-up, Blur's Damon Albarn and all of Black Sabbath including Ozzy Osborne. Speaking from a location in New York's East Village after the 5-hour marathon, Smooth Operations directors Nick Barraclough and John Leonard said,"Can we have two large beers, please?" The evening's programmes were produced by John Leonard, Nick Barraclough, Viv Atkinson, Kellie While and Ian Callaghan. RUBBER FOLK BEATLES TRIBUTE [October 2005]A special Mike Harding Show wil be broadcast on Wednesday 7th November (88-91 FM BBC Radio 2) celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the release of The Beatles' album Rubber Soul with a series of superb re-interpretations of the original songs by the UK's top folk artists. The show will play through Rubber Soul in its original Fab Four order and features a specially-commissioned series of stunning reworkings of classic and much-loved songs by highly-acclaimed artists. The cast list is a roll call of folk's premier talents, featuring Ralph McTell, Paul Brady, Eddi Reader, Cara Dillon, Waterson:Carthy and a host of artists keen to re-think the original songs and ground them in the tradition. Producer Nick Barraclough said,"The only instruction I gave them was to make the songs sound at least as good as the originals, but when the finished tracks came in, the results were jaw-dropping. Each artist has brought something new to a much-loved song, and in my opinion, these are folk gems for the future." Rubber Folk will be available to hear again via the BBC Radio 2 Folk and Acoustic website for seven days following Wednesday night's show at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/folk SMOOTH OPERATIONS TOP RADIO LISTENER POLL [September 2005]Two Smooth Operations productions were nominated in a poll for the top ten documentaries Radio 2 listeners would like to hear again. In The Footsteps Of Annie Moore made the final top ten along with Yesterday Once More: The Karen Carpenter Story ... which went on to win the poll and was repeated in September. SMOOTH OPERATIONS BRANCHES INTO COMEDY [June 2005]We are delighted to announce that Smooth Operations has been commissioned by BBC Radio 4, in association with management and production company Komedia Entertainment Ltd, to produce five half-hour programmes featuring comedian Count Arthur Strong, a regular guest on the Mark Radcliffe Show. We are particularly pleased to receive this, our first comedy commission, and look forward to the opportunities this new area of radio broadcasting will afford our production teams. SONY RADIO ACADEMY AWARDS 2005 [March 2005]The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindler: The Malcolm McLaren Story, produced by Smooth Operations and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in January 2004, has been nominated in the Music Special category at this year's Radio Academy Awards. The results will be announced at the Awards ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday 9th May. BBC FOUR TV COMMISSIONS [February 2005]In Summer 2005, for the fourth consecutive year, Smooth Operations will be producing programmes from Cambridge Folk Festival for BBC Four TV. THE NEW RADIO BALLADS [January 2005]Smooth Operations has started work on a major documentary project for BBC Radio 2, an eight-part series of programmes exploring human and moral issues in Britain. The programmes will feature in-depth interviews and specially-commissioned songs about each subject and will be made in the storytelling style used by Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker in the landmark Radio Ballads project, aired by the BBC in the 1950s and early 1960s. The first of the new Radio Ballads will focus on the hardships and working conditions facing steelworkers in Sheffield and Rotherham, from its boom period of the 1960s to its decline and re-structuring. "It’s a tremendously exciting opportunity for us to generate songs from the toil and sweat of the ordinary working man and woman,” said series executive producer John Leonard, currently assembling a team of songwriters for the Sheffield programme. ‘The storytelling ideas of MacColl and Parker can certainly be applied to the experiences of our own generation - it’s fascinating to hear the life stories of foundry workers and furnacemen. What they’ve been through in their lifetime of work is incredible." Commissioned by Radio 2 Controller Lesley Douglas, the new Radio Ballads are due to be broadcast in November 2005. |